Cold snap may curb crawfish consumption

Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 8:52 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 8:52 p.m.

Thanks to the recent cold weather, Good Friday might be a bad Friday for residents counting on holding a traditional crawfish boil.

Chilly weather has knocked back the catch coming out of ponds and the Atchafalaya Basin, and flooding earlier this year in important crawfish-producing parishes impacted farmers earlier in the season. Many seafood dealers say they’re already turning down hundreds of orders for crawfish, and residents that haven’t placed an order yet may have a tough time finding mudbugs to boil.

“I’m afraid my recommendation might be that if you can’t find a sack of crawfish to cook an etoufee,” said David Savoy, president of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association. “People are not going to get what they’re looking for.”

Crawfish are available throughout the year in Louisiana, but boils are most popular in the spring, especially during Lent when Catholics and some other Christians traditionally eat seafood and avoid meat as a penance on Fridays. Many Cajuns also celebrate Good Friday with a crawfish or seafood boil.

Easter weekend is one of the biggest money-makers for farmers and seafood dealers. The crawfish season peaks from February through April.

Cold snaps also impact crawfish supplies, so the brisk weather this week means crawfish will be scarce and expensive for Good Friday.

“This is an extremely odd year,” said Gary Blanchard, owner of Crawfish House in Houma. “Good Friday is so early, and we’ve got this cold weather.”

Blanchard said while the air might feel pleasant, when the water temperature drops to a certain point, “Mother Nature tells the crawfish: ‘Don’t do nothing.’ ” They grow sluggish and don’t eat, meaning farmers catch half of what they’d normally bring in.

Douglas Davis, who with his wife Nancy owns Nancy’s Seafood Shack in Houma, said Tuesday he’d already taken 300 orders for Good Friday, and availability would only lessen as the week went on.

They were selling crawfish for $3 a pound live and $5.75 boiled, or 10 pounds for $50, as of Wednesday.

“The phone is ringing off the hook,” he said. “People love their crawfish.”

Blanchard said he’s been getting calls from as far away as Houston and Baton Rouge looking for crawfish. He took all the orders he was comfortable he could handle early in the week, and all other sales will be first-come, first-serve through the weekend.

He was selling live crawfish for $2 to $3 a pound and boiled for $4 to $4.50 a pound Wednesday, depending upon size.

Minvielle said he’d personally turned down orders for more than 200 sacks of crawfish in the last two days.

It’s the misfortune of working in a business that’s highly sensitive to seasonal changes, temperature and rainfall.

“I would love to be making money and getting people their crawfish, but it’s up to Mother Nature,” he said. “We need a little divine intervention.”

Staff Writer Nikki Buskey can be reached at 448-7636 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com

<p>Thanks to the recent cold weather, Good Friday might be a bad Friday for residents counting on holding a traditional crawfish boil.</p><p>Chilly weather has knocked back the catch coming out of ponds and the Atchafalaya Basin, and flooding earlier this year in important crawfish-producing parishes impacted farmers earlier in the season. Many seafood dealers say they're already turning down hundreds of orders for crawfish, and residents that haven't placed an order yet may have a tough time finding mudbugs to boil.</p><p>“I'm afraid my recommendation might be that if you can't find a sack of crawfish to cook an etoufee,” said David Savoy, president of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association. “People are not going to get what they're looking for.”</p><p>Crawfish are available throughout the year in Louisiana, but boils are most popular in the spring, especially during Lent when Catholics and some other Christians traditionally eat seafood and avoid meat as a penance on Fridays. Many Cajuns also celebrate Good Friday with a crawfish or seafood boil.</p><p>Easter weekend is one of the biggest money-makers for farmers and seafood dealers. The crawfish season peaks from February through April.</p><p>Heavy rain flooded tens of thousands of acres of crawfish ponds in Iberia, Acadia and St. Martin parishes in January, said Stephen Minvielle, Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association executive director. Crawfish farmers didn't anticipate that flooding would wipe out the vegetation in crawfish ponds, diminishing their food supply.</p><p>Minvielle said he's been supplementing food for his crawfish, but it is a pricey process.</p><p>In addition, flood waters allowed young crawfish to escape ponds and brought in fish that feed on them, Savoy said.</p><p>“They're not there to grow up,” he said.</p><p>Minvielle estimated farmers have experienced losses of 20 percent to 25 percent.</p><p>Cold snaps also impact crawfish supplies, so the brisk weather this week means crawfish will be scarce and expensive for Good Friday.</p><p>“This is an extremely odd year,” said Gary Blanchard, owner of Crawfish House in Houma. “Good Friday is so early, and we've got this cold weather.”</p><p>Blanchard said while the air might feel pleasant, when the water temperature drops to a certain point, “Mother Nature tells the crawfish: 'Don't do nothing.' ” They grow sluggish and don't eat, meaning farmers catch half of what they'd normally bring in.</p><p>Farmers and retailers said demand is far exceeding availability as Easter weekend grows closer.</p><p>Douglas Davis, who with his wife Nancy owns Nancy's Seafood Shack in Houma, said Tuesday he'd already taken 300 orders for Good Friday, and availability would only lessen as the week went on.</p><p>They were selling crawfish for $3 a pound live and $5.75 boiled, or 10 pounds for $50, as of Wednesday.</p><p>“The phone is ringing off the hook,” he said. “People love their crawfish.”</p><p>Blanchard said he's been getting calls from as far away as Houston and Baton Rouge looking for crawfish. He took all the orders he was comfortable he could handle early in the week, and all other sales will be first-come, first-serve through the weekend.</p><p>He was selling live crawfish for $2 to $3 a pound and boiled for $4 to $4.50 a pound Wednesday, depending upon size.</p><p>Minvielle said he'd personally turned down orders for more than 200 sacks of crawfish in the last two days.</p><p>It's the misfortune of working in a business that's highly sensitive to seasonal changes, temperature and rainfall.</p><p>“I would love to be making money and getting people their crawfish, but it's up to Mother Nature,” he said. “We need a little divine intervention.”</p><p>Staff Writer Nikki Buskey can be reached at 448-7636 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com</p>